On this page: Neoptolemus – Nephele – Nepos

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NEOPTOLEMUS.

the son of Arrhabaeus and brother of Amyntas, though that author represents him as having fought on the Persian side. (Arr. Anab. i, 20. § 15 ; and see Schmieder, ad loc.)

4. One of the generals of Mithridates, and brother of Archelaus. He had already distin­ guished himself previous to the breaking out of the wars with Rome, by an expedition against the barbarians north of the Euxine, whom he defeated in several battles, and appears to have pushed his conquests as far as the mouth of the Tyras (Dniester), where he erected a fortress which con­ tinued to Dear his name. In the course of these wars he is said to have defeated the barbarians in a combat of cavalry, on the ice at the entrance of the Palus Maeotis, on the very same spot where he the following summer gained a naval victory. (Strab. ii. 1, p. 73, vii. 3, pp. 306, 307.) In b. c. 88 he was united with his brother Archelaus in the .command of the great army with which Mithri- datesinvaded Bithynia, and defeated NicomedesIII. at the river Amnius. This success was quickly fol­ lowed up by Neoptolemus and Menophanes, who defeated the Roman general M. Aquillius in a second decisive action, and compelled him to fly for refuge to Pergamus. (App. Mithr. 17—19.) After this he appears to have accompanied Arche­ laus to Greece, where he was defeated by Sulla's lieutenant, Munatius, near Chalcis, with heavy loss, b. c. 86. (Ibid. 34.) After this we find him commanding the fleet of Mithridates, which was stationed at Tenedos (b. c. 85), where he was attacked and defeated by Lucullus, the quaestor of Sulla. (Plut. Lucull. 3.) From this time we hear no more of him. . [E. H. B.]

NEOPTOLEMUS (Neoimto.€/«>s), literary. 1. Of Paros, the most eminent literary person of this name. The following works are ascribed to him. 1. Tilepi 'E7n7/>ajUjuaT«j>, probably a collection of epi­grams. (Athen. x. p. 454, f.; Jacobs, Anthol. vol. vi. p. xxxvi.) 2. Tlepl TXwffffwv, to the third book of which Athenaeus refers (xi. p. 476, f.). It is probably to this work that Achilles Tatius refers, sv tcus $pvyiais (pwvcus. (P'abric. Bibl. Grace, vol. vi. p. 193.) 3. A Commentary on Homer. (Id. vol. i, p. 517.) 4. A Commentary on Theocritus, quoted in the Scholia on i. 52. (Id. vol. iii. pp. 781, 798.) 5. A Treatise on Poetry, to which Horace is said to have been indebted in his Ars Poetica. (Id. vol. vi. p. 373.)

2. According to a conjecture of Clinton {F. H. vol. i. p. 349), who has collected (L c.) all the an­cient notices on the subject, there was a Milesian Neoptolemus, to whom was falsely ascribed the epic Ncu»7ra/cTia. Pausanias thinks it the work of Carcinus. [carcinus.] The Scholiast on Apollo-nius Rhodius, however, expressly attributes it to Neoptolemus. Perhaps, however, Neoptolemus the Parian may have commented on this work also. Heyne latterly agreed with Pausanias that the NawTraKTta was named from Naupactus, the birth-, place of its author Carcinus. (Apollon. Rhod. v. 299; Schol. ad Apollod. iii. 10. § 12, and Ob-servat, in loc. by Heyne, ed. Getting. 1803.)

ii. p. 152, ed. Amstel. 1745 ; Sueton. Cat. c. 57.) If Josephus(Ant. xix. 1) be correct, the play per­ formed was on the subject of Cinyras and Myrrha. But Neoptolemus (Diod. I. c.), by order of the king, introduced some new lines (quoted by Diod. Z. c.\ probably composed by Neoptolemus himself. A saying of his on the murder of the king is recorded by Stobaeus (98. 70, vol. iii. p. 295, ed. Gaisford). He took an active part in the transactions between the Athenians and Philip. He had been intimate with and espoused the side of the latter, for whose court he ulti­ mately left Athens, (Dem. pp. 58, 344, 442,. ed, Reiske.) [W. M. G.]

NEPHELE (Ne^eArj). 1. The wife of the Thessalian king Athamas, by whom she became the mother of Phrixus and Helle. (Apollod. i. 9, § 1 ; comp. athamas.)

2. The wife of Ixion, by whom she became the mother of the Centaurs. [centauri.] [L. S.]

NEPOS, a friend of the younger Pliny, who addresses four letters to him (ii. 3, iii. 16, iv. 26, vi. 19), but whether he is the same as either the CalvisiusNepos or the LiciniusNepos mentioned below, is uncertain.

NEPOS, CALVI'SIUS, a friend of the younger Pliny, was a candidate for the office of military tribune, and was warmly recommended by Pliny to Sossius. (Plin. Ep. iv. 4.)

NEPOS, CORNE'LIUS, was the contemporary and friend of Cicero, Atticus, and Catullus. He was probably a native of Verona, or of some, neigh­bouring village, and died during the reign of Augustus. No other particulars, with regard to his personal history, have been transmitted to us. (Catull. i. 3 ; comp. Auson. praef. Epigramm. ; Cic. ad Alt. xvi. 5 ; Plin. H. N. v. 1, ix. 39, x. 23 ; Plin. Ep. iv. 28 ; Hieron. Chron. Euseb. Olymp. clxxxv.) He is known to have written the following pieces, all of which are now lost.

1. Chronica. An Epitome of Universal History, it would appear, in three books. For the name and some idea of the contents we are indebted to Ausonius(Epist. xvi.), A. Gellius (xvii. 21. § 3, 8, 24), and Solinus (i. § 27, xliv. § 1), while Catullus, when dedicating his poems to CorneliusNepos, indicates, though obscurely, the object and extent of the production in question,

2. Eocemplorum Libri, of which Charisius (p. 119, ed. Putsch.) quotes the second book, and A. Gel­lius (vii, 18. § 11) the fifth. This was probably a collection of remarkable sayings and doings, of the same description as the compilation subse­quently formed by ValeriusMaximus,

3. De Viris Illustribus. Gellius (xi. 8) tells an anecdote of Cato, adding " Scriptum est hoc in libro Cornelii Nepotis De Illustribus Viris" (See also Serv. ad Virg. Aen. 372 ; Diomedes, p. 405, ed. Putsch.; and Charisius, pp. 113,114, 195, ed. Putsch., who refers to books ii. xv. and xvi.) It is not impossible that it may be the same work as the preceding, quoted under a different title.

4. Vita Ciceronis, an error in which is corrected by A. Gellius (xv. 28).

5. Epistolae ad Ciceronem^ from one of which Lactantius has preserved an extract (Instit. Div.